Luoshan County 罗山县

Setting and landscape

The land falls from high ground in the southwest to lower country in the northeast, and all of it drains to the Huai. The mix of land is roughly summed up as "five parts hills, one part water, four parts fields". The county government says the Huai main stream runs for 44 kilometres along the north of the county, while the Shi (浉河), Zhugan (竹竿河) and Xiaohuang (小潢河) rivers cross it, and forest covers 62 per cent of the land.

History

Luoshan County was created in 596, the sixteenth year of the Sui dynasty's Kaihuang era, and took its name from a hill called Little Luoshan (小罗山) in the southwest. Tombs of the ancient Luo state (古罗国) dug at Tianhu (天湖) in 1979 held a liquor more than 3,000 years old, which the county government calls the world's oldest and says entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1990; the Tianhu tombs are a national-level protected site.

On 16 November 1934 the Red 25th Army (红二十五军) left Hejiachong (何家冲) on the Long March. The starting point is listed as a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level, and an old ginkgo tree still marks the assembly point. Luoshan shadow puppetry (罗山皮影) is on the national intangible cultural heritage list.

What to see

The Lingshan scenic area (灵山风景名胜区), a national 4A scenic area in the southwest of the county, covers about 61.5 square kilometres on the Hubei border; the county counts 36 waterfalls and 72 caves in it. Lingshan Temple (灵山寺) was founded in the Northern Wei, in the fourth year of Emperor Xiaowen's Yanxing era. The county government records that monks and nuns share it, its gate opens to the east, and the Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang wrote its board "Shengshou Chan Temple" (圣寿禅寺).

Next to Lingshan, the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve (董寨国家级自然保护区) is a bird reserve known above all for the Reeves's pheasant (白冠长尾雉); the county lists 74 nationally protected bird species there, including the crested ibis (朱鹮).

Food and local products

Luoshan is a main producing area of Xinyang Maojian (信阳毛尖) green tea, and the county describes the misty Zhongdang (中垱) area of Lingshan as the tea's place of origin. Its tourism overview sends visitors to Luoshan intestine soup (罗山大肠汤) and Lingshan pot crust (灵山地锅巴). Tianhu Gujiu (天湖古酒) liquor is a Chinese geographical indication product.

Highlights

• Lingshan Temple 灵山寺: Northern Wei foundation shared by monks and nuns, with a board written by the Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang.
• Dongzhai National Nature Reserve 董寨国家级自然保护区: Bird reserve known for the Reeves's pheasant; 74 nationally protected bird species recorded.
• Hejiachong 何家冲: Where the Red 25th Army set out on the Long March on 16 November 1934.
• Tianhu tombs 天湖古墓: Tombs of the ancient Luo state, excavated in 1979, which yielded Shang-period liquor over 3,000 years old.
• Luoshan intestine soup 罗山大肠汤: A dish the county's tourism overview recommends to visitors.